Time Lord Gothic
by gothicjedi666
Summary: My Doctor Who self insert. I finally started it. Took me ages so I hope you all like it.
1. Chapter 1

**Time Lord Gothic – A Meeting In The Snow - Part One.**

On a world covered by snow and ice a blue box, that many TV viewers in another dimension would recognise, slowly wheezed and groaned its way into existence. The device seemed to be there for a moment only to slip away, but it came back and every time it did it seemed to be more solid somehow as if it was obtaining a grip upon reality itself.

Then the box seemed to settle and went quiet until the door of this remarkable craft was flung open.

Into view appeared a tall, skinny man dressed in a blue suit that was in no way suitable clothing for this frigid environment. Even the brown coat he wore wouldn't keep him warm in this weather. He had a head topped with messy brown hair which had been carefully styled with far too much gel, and he had the smile of a man who far younger than the age his eyes showed him to be.

"Got to love it, completely random, we could be anywhere and anywhen".

The person the Time Lord was taking to was Donna Noble, a native of the planet Earth, and she was far less happy about landing on what seemed to be a frozen wasteland.

"Completely and utterly uncontrolled" the Doctor rambled on

Truth be told most people would think a bad idea to fly a time capsule through the vortex with no idea where or even when you were going, but for the renegade Lord of Time that whole thing was loads of fun.

"The mystery of a tour through time and space…Oh…no wait. That sounds like some sort of hideous tourist attraction doesn't it. Like something at Disney Land".

"You are a tourist" pointed out the loud red headed woman "And it's bloody freezing here".

Donna Noble stepped out to stand beside her travelling companion, she was shivering due to the cold. Hence her lack of enjoyment so far.

"But it's snow Donna, real snow!" The Doctor said while completely ignoring the sub zero conditions around him.

"It's bloody freezing" repeated the temp.

"Oh! C'mon, look at that view! Don't get anything like that on Earth" pointed out the Doctor while gesturing at the white landscape "Just think, millions of planets, millions of views and we're on this one. Molte Bene!"

Donna just ignored the Doctor, by now she knew when he was going to start ranting on about some Space Man stuff and she had learned to tune him out.

"Just think, Donna Noble. Born in Chiswick, a life of work, and sleep, and reality television, and rent, and taxes, and take away dinners…"

Unnoticed by the Doctor, Donna silently slipped back into the TARDIS. She knew that he would at this for a while so she had time to get her winter coat and maybe make a cup of tea as well.

"…With birthdays and Christmases, two weeks holiday a year…So much… domestic. And then, you end up here! Donna Noble, citizen of the Earth and now you're standing on a completely different planet. How 'bout that Donna?"

The Time Lord stopped talking so that he inhaled the chilled air, possibly due to the fact he badly needed some oxygen. Even Time Lords couldn't natter on for too long before they needed to breathe.

"Donna?"

The Lord of Time turned and looked around in confusion when he realised that travelling companion had disappeared.

Before he could start to panic about her absence or start to look for her, Donna stepped out of the parked TARDIS. She was at least now dressed for a visit to a snow covered world.

"Sorry, you were sayin'?" the London based temp said.

"Alright then?" The Doctor asked

"Lovely thanks." Donna replied

"Comfy?" he asked next "Can you hear anything inside that?"

Donna just smirked at her friend.

It was then that the rocket flew overhead, which distracted both of the fourth dimensional tourists.

"Look at that." said Donna who was really impressed with what this planet had to offer. "Now that is a proper spaceship, you've got a little wooden box. He's got a space rocket".

Donna Noble completely ignored whatever it was The Doctor had to say on the subject and began to follow the course of the rocket ship. Having no choice in the matter that Time Lord could only follow.

(Line Break)

"Can't you hear it Donna? The singing?" asked the Doctor as two of them moved across the snowy ground.

"I can't hear anything" Donna Noble answered.

The temp's attention was at this point focused on the Doctor's choice of clothing.

"Sure the cold isn't getting to you? How can you be warm wearing that? Some Martian-thing?"

"Timelord." The Doctor corrected, but it was hardly more than a grunt as his attention was focused on something else.

Without warning the alien man was on the move again, only now he seemed to know exactly where he was going. And he also knew exactly what it was that was buried in the snow.

An Ood.

The snow covered most of the body and it looked as it frozen to death rather than having died due to some mishap or malicious act. Still the Time Lord had to be sure.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a stethoscope that he'd picked up somewhere along the way, and he used it to check for a heart beat.

"Oh my God. What is it…?" Donna seeing the dead alien.

"Donna" the Doctor chided

When she understood that the being was in distress the human woman's attitude changed.

"It's going to be all right. We've got you." Donna said trying the assure the alien "Um…What's your name?"

The Ood weakly gripped the translator-ball connected to his mouth.

"Designated Ood: Delta Fifty".

That wasn't really a name, but that didn't discourage the red head.

"My name is Donna"

She held the translator ball to her mouth, clearly she though that the device was for translation and it was but it wasn't for the alien's benefit as it could understand human speech very well in fact, even it couldn't communicate in kind.

"You've been shot!" The Doctor shouted out when he discovered the wound.

Until now he'd assumed that this Ood had simply wandered off into the snow because it had somehow gotten lost. Now that he that this wasn't the case he grew even more concerned.

"The... The Circle." Delta Fifty said with great effort "The Circle must be broken."

"Circle?" The Doctor asked of the dying alien "Delta Fifty, what circle?"

"Delta Fifty what circle?" The Doctor asked knowing that there was time to delay in the questioning.

The Ood known as Delta Fifty turned to look at the Doctor before opening his eyes which had now become a violent red. Both of the visitors to this world flung themselves backwards expecting danger, but there had been no need as the alien died right then and there.

"He's gone…" Donna said with sadness in her voice

"Careful." The Doctor warned his friend moved towards the body.

He feared that the alien could be playing possum.

"Can we bury em or something?" inquired Donna.

"The snow'll take care of it." The Doctor replied.

"Who was he, what's an Ood?" Donna asked as she stood up.

The Doctor took a moment to reply as he needed to collect this thoughts.

"They're servants, of humans in the 42nd century. Mildly telepathic..."

The Time Lord trailed off as the memories of those events started to overwhelm him.

"His eyes though, Doctor, they were all red. What does it mean?"

The Doctor told his companion about the adventure where he had met the devil himself. She was naturally sceptical, but who wouldn't be.

"It's got to be something different this time though…" The Doctor muttered to himself "Must be something… a bit closer to home."

It took them a while but eventually they found something that wasn't snow.

"Ah! Civilisation." The Doctor said cheerfully as they looked down at the landing sight of the rocket they had seen earlier.

"Looks like." Donna agreed

"Well then Donna Noble, citizen of Earth, allon-sy!"

"Utterly mad".

(Line Break)

"Would you care to explain how exactly you found your way here Mr..."

"Gothic" I replied "but there's no Mister in front of that"

The man in charge was not pleased to hear that.

"Don't waste my time" Halpen snarled while slamming his fists into the desk "you are a trespasser, by rights I could have you shot".

If his bully boys hadn't taken my weapons away I might have been tempted to start the shooting. But then again maybe not. None of my weapons actually killed people.

"I assume that this is the part when you tell me that I should cooperate" I said "for our my good of course".

"Of course." Halpen replied.

At this point I'd decided that I needed some time to think as I was pretty sure that the Doctor would be turning up soon. Plus with a chance for some thought I could come up with an escape plan.

"Okay the truth is that I'm with the Friends of the Odd" I told the angry business man "I'm here to scout out your operation before the main group arrives".

Total lie of course. I was actually here because my TARDIS had brought me here. I was totally in the wrong part of the empire. In fact until I'd found this place I'd wondered if I'd somehow ended up on the planet Hoth.

"Well then seeing as you're friends with the Ood then you won't mind spending some time with them" Halpen said with a great amount of smugness in his tone "But do try and be careful, there's a terrible disease going round the cattle this harvest. It tends to make them rather red eyed and murderous. And I would hate for something bad to happen to you".

Yes because me dying at the hands of killer Ood would be such a bad thing. Well actually it would. I didn't know if I could regenerate or not.

I half expected the CEO to laugh in an evil way, maybe while stroking a fluffy white cat, but he disappointed me by only ordering more of his tonic.

In fact I spied the Ood entering the office as we left. He had the 'hair restoring tonic' all set up on a tray.

"Sigma, where's my drink?" I heard as the door closed.

I hoped that the drink was sweet as just deserts ought to be.

(Line Break)

The Doctor entered the compound, sending a brilliant smile as he flashed his psychic paper at the PR woman.

"Hi, I'm the Doctor and this is Donna Noble" said the Doctor, greeting the greeter.

"Representing the…Noble Corporation, plc. Inc. Intergalactic" Donna informed.

"You must have fallen off my list, my apologies, it wont happen again." the tour guide promised "Now Dr and Mrs Noble, if you'd like to come with me".

The two friends stared at each other, both of them seemed to be rather scared by the idea that someone could think that they were married.

"Oh, no no no!" The Doctor protested.

"We're not married." Donna explained rather frantically

"Never" The Doctor agreed.

"Never ever!"

"Of…course…" the greeter/guide said before quickly changing the subject "Now here are your information packs, with vouchers inside."

"Oooh." said the impressed Doctor who really did like free stuff.

Not that he often paid for things, but it was nice now and again to be given things.

It was then that the alarm sounded, which caused the hairs on the back of the Time Lord's neck to stand on end. Something important was happening here and it wasn't just about the Ood.

(Line Break)

"What's the what with the alarms?" I asked of the boss's goons as we entered a place cheerfully called 'Ood Conversion'.

The only response I got was to be shoved into a cage of all things.

"How rude" I said in my best Jar Jar Blinks voice.

The strong looking cage was shut and then locked, soon after that I was left alone in the dark.

"I'm sure I've got a light on me" I told myself

That was the problem with expanded pockets, it was nice to have a separate dimension to store things in because it meant that nothing weighed you down, but it sure did make it tricky to find things.

Finally I located the emitter of light and I used to have a look around my cell. That was when I saw the Ood. There were a lot of them and they were all looking right at me.

"Hello. I'm The Traveller" I said using my Time Lord title "and you're all scary red eyed aliens".

This was not good.

(Line Break)

Donna Noble listened as the PR girl ranted on about the Ood.

"As you can see the Ood are happy to serve humanity, and are kept in top quality conditions".

The red headed temp wasn't the smartest woman in existence, but she had a feeling that she was being lied to.

"Her at the Double O- that's Ood Operations, we like the think of the Ood as our trusted friends. We keep them healthy, safe and educated".

Donna was tempted to ask a few questions about that, but she wisely kept her trap shut.

"We don't just breed the Ood, we make them better. Because at heart, what is an Ood? But a reflection of us. If your Ood is happy, then you'll be happy too".

With that part of the presention over Donna was able to turn her attention to the Ood that were kept on display. It worried her that they seemed to be more like sculptures than people.

"I'd now like to point out a new variation within our range" the company woman said next

"Adding multiple options to the translator ball. You can now have the standard setting".

"How are you Ood?" asked the sales woman.

"I am very well thank you" replied the alien slave.

"Or perhaps after a stressful day…a little something for the gentlemen."

The woman smiled at the men at room before starting the next part of the demonstration.

"And how are you Ood?"

"All the better for seeing you, darling"

The voice sounded rather sexy, but coming from such a strange looking creature totally ruined the effect.

"And, of course, the comedy classic. Ood, you dropped something." the PR said as the group reached the last alien on display.

"D'oh!"

Laughter echoed around the room and Donna wondered if they were still showing repeats of that show on whatever passed for TV in this century. Or maybe they had Matt Growings head in a jar somewhere and he was still writing the Simpsons even now.

Looking over at The Doctor who had slipped on his glasses, Donna knew he was deep thought and about to be very clever. For the sake of his fragile male ego she decide to humour him by listening to whatever it was he had to say.

"Ah, the Ood-sphere. I've been to this solar system before, years ago, ages before now"

The Doctor paused to further study the charts on the screen.

"Ah its 4126 AD, and this is the 2nd great and bountiful human empire".

"It's 4126? 4126?" Donna said almost frantically, I'm in 4126?"

That was more than two thousand years into her future. She could hardly imagine how much things had changed.

"Its good isn't it." The Doctor said before explaining more "The empire stretches out across three galaxies."

That fact took the temp far less time to absorb but it was no less wonderful a thing to hear.

"That's weird, brilliant. Back home, the papers and the telly, they keep tellin' us we haven't got long to live. Global warming, flooding, all the bees disappearing".

"Yeah, that thing with the bees is odd…" The Doctor agreed.

It was odd as the bees shouldn't be vanishing. He knew this because they still existed for centuries after Donna's time.

"But look at us, we're everywhere. But is that good or bad? Are we explorers or more like a virus?" Donna asked.

"Sometimes I wonder" mused the Time Lord

And wonder he did. Often the Doctor asked himself if humanity were conquerors or if their empires were built on better things. He'd seen mankind both conquer and liberate entire worlds, often in the same war. He seen entire planets stripped bare by greedy corporations, but he'd also seen barren planets turned into garden worlds by the hard work of brilliant men and woman.

Heck he'd helped set up these empires, not in direct way, but he played his part. In his last life he'd even helped to bring one of them down. Not on purpose, but that didn't change the facts.

In the end consoled himself that there were species out there that were a lot worse than humans were as a whole. These galaxies could be ruled by the Cybermen or even the Daleks. That would be much worse.

"What are the red dots?" Donna asked.

"Ood distribution centres" answered the Time Lord

"Across three galaxies? Don't the Ood get a say in this?" Donna demanded to know

Before the Doctor could answer Donna was on the war path. She wanted answers, and she was going to get them.

"Tell me, are you all like this?" Donna asked one of the Ood.

"I do not understand miss" replied the enslaved alien.

"Why do you say Miss? Do I look like I'm single!" Donna demanded to know.

At this point the Doctor had to jump in.

"Donna" the Doctor said.

"What I mean is…Are there any free Ood?" Donna asked "Are there Ood running wild somewhere?"

"All Ood are born to serve, otherwise we would die" was the answer she got.

"But you can't have started like this" Donna reasoned "Before humans came, what were you like?"

The Ood answered again but this time there was something different in the creature's voice

"The Circle".

"What do you mean, the circle?" The Doctor asked.

"The Circle is..."

Sadly the Time Lord once more lost the chance to get an answer, but thankfully not by someone dying.

"Ladies and Gentlemen over here, all Ood to hospitality stations please" called out the company woman.

"I've had enough of this" The Doctor said while holding up a map "Fancy going off the beaten track?"

(Line Break)

I'd actually started to get bored waiting for The Doctor. It wasn't as if I didn't have a life of my own. My TARDIS worked I could be off any where, any when. Meeting anyone I liked. If I'd wanted snow and ice I would of gone skiing on a resort world.

"What the hell is wrong with it?" I heard someone say.

The voice ended what would have been another bout of me playing a game of 'anywhere but here' so I was actually glad something was happening even if it was bad.

"It's obviously stage two of the red-eye….Whatever that means" answered an egghead type.

"Ood Sigma, have you ever seen anything like this?" asked the local evil overlord of his minion.

"Humanity defines us. We look to you for answers" Sigma replied.

"Fat lot of good, all of you" the CEO said with a snarl.

I loved in when the bad guys bitched about the help. They only had themselves to blame after all.

"Maybe its the food" I quipped "or did you get forgot to give then their rabies shots".

"You know what's going on, don't you" accused the stressed out villain "this is something cooked up by the 'Friends of the Ood' I'm sure of it".

That was highly doubtful. It would be like an animal welfare group going around purposefully infecting cattle with Foot and Mouth disease.

"We've already shipped out thousands of Ood to all corners of the empire" the boss of this place informed "if they all go feral it could be a blood bath".

"Yeah see me not caring" I replied.

I wasn't the hero of this adventure and I didn't much care for the Ood or the empire. It wasn't my empire I hadn't set up, or at least I assumed I hadn't. It was just place I liked to visit. Which made me realise I should actual care.

"There's one place I haven't checked. Warehouse 15" said the lab coat wearing man.

"Why would that be trouble now, it's been two centuries?"

Warehouse 15, I would remember that. In fact it sounded very familiar.

"I know it's restricted access, but if I'm going to work on this, then I should see it!" The science guy pointed out.

"Warehouse 15" muttered the CEO "I need a drink".

Which he had waiting for him thanks to Ood Sigma

"What about this Ood sir?" asked the paid smart guy.

"Shoot it, then cut it open" decided the bad guy "I want you to find out what is going on with the cattle".

The sound of guns firing filled the air and I closed my eyes.

"Bastards" I muttered.

(Line Break)

The Doctor and Noble crept about looking for... well they didn't know but they would when they saw it.

So far what they were seeing was very upsetting.

"Get up." A guard shouted at a struggling Ood.

The human male cracked a whip and began striking the poor alien.

"They're not servants" Donna realised "They're slaves."

"Last time I met the Ood, I never thought…I never asked…" confessed the Time Lord.

"That's not like you." Donna said with concern.

"Busy, so busy I couldn't save them. I reckon I owe them one".

Turning away from the horrid sight they spied a balding man who was leading a group of guards and scientists.

"Looks like the boss." Donna reasoned as she saw the man enter a building called Warehouse 15.

Soon the duo entered a large warehouses filled with what looked like shipping container that could have come from 20th or 21st century Earth.

"Ood export" reasoned the Doctor "from here they will shipped out and transported across three galaxies".

"What…you mean these containers are full of Ood"

Rather than answer directly the Time Lord simply opened one.

"A great big empire built on slavery" Donna realised.

"Not so different from your time" The Doctor pointed out

"Oi! I ain't got slaves" replied the red headed woman.

"Who do you think made your clothes".

Donna was understandably upset now, and she decided to express her feelings.

"Is that why you travel with a human at your side? Not to show 'em the wonders of the universe, its so you can take cheap shots at us?".

"Sorry," the Time Lord apologised.

Donna then decided to turn her attention to the Ood.

"The door's open though, why don't you run away?"

"For what reason?"

"You could be free." Donna pointed out.

"I do not understand the concept" was all the alien said.

"Ood, tell me. Does the circle mean anything to you?" The Doctor asked as he really wanted an answer.

"The Circle must be broken!" all of the Odd replied.

"Yeah, but what is 'the circle'?" The Doctor asked seeking a more detailed answer

Sadly he didn't get it.

"The Circle must be broken."

"Why?" the man with two hearts asked.

"So we can sing!"

Now he was finally getting somewhere and might of gotten further if not for the fact that the alarms went off once more.

"Ohh, that's us, c'mon." The Doctor stated.

The pair ran, which was something they often did. Donna didn't mind that much as she was starting to lose weight.

(Line Break)

A short time later Doctor and Donna were confronting the PR woman, and the red head was not happy.

"If people on Earth knew what you were enslaving these Ood.."

Donna's rant was stopped before it could really start.

"Don't be so stupid. They know, of course they know. You can't sell something like this and have no one know" said the PR lady.

"And everyone's fine with this! That's what the future is?" an upset Donna nearly screamed out.

"They don't ask. Same thing".

"A species can't be born like this, they can't be. A species born to serve couldn't evolve like this. What does the company do to make them obey?" The Doctor demanded to know.

"That's nothing to do with me!" protested the sales woman.

"What, 'cos you don't ask?" The Doctor asked in an angry voice.

"That's Doctor Ryder's territory" the guide tried to explain.

"Then show me where he is in the complex" the Time Lord demanded "I'm a Doctor, I can help with the Red Eye, now show me:

"There…Beyond the red section".

"Come with us, you've seen the warehouse and you can't agree with all this" said The Doctor trying to gain the woman's help "You know this place better than I do. You could help".

Sadly this pleas fell on death ears.

"They're over here. Guards!"

The two of them started running, yet again

(Line Break)

'The Circle must be broken"

I had discovered that the Ood were not the greatest source of conversation in the universe.

"Yes, yes" I replied "I heard you the first twenty times"

"The Circle must be broke".

Then the alarms went off again.

"They're playing his song" I told the slaves.

"The Circle must be broke" said the aliens once more.

"He's working on it" I promised.

(Line Break)

"Didn't even need the map, we could have followed the song." The Doctor said as he led Donna back inside the complex "and then there's... no it can't be. It's not possible".

"What's not possible?" his companion demanded to know.

"It can't be" muttered the Doctor as soon as he was inside the warehouse

"What can't be?" inquired Donna Noble

Rather than answer the alien moved to the door and locked it with his multi-purpose screwdriver.

"Why are you locking us in?" Donna asked with great concern.

Again he didn't answer The Doctor simply grabbed Donna's hand and rushed deeper into the building.

He was looking for something and he was about to find it.

Then everything would change.


	2. Chapter 2

**Time Lord Gothic – A Meeting In The Snow - Part Two**.

The Doctor really was skinny like a rake. He moved fast as well as if he needed to keep moving or he'd end up exploding due to all the energy bottled up inside.

He was handsome as well and rather intense to be around. Not in a way that made him attractive to me, as that would never happen, but I could understand why so many woman could be so fascinated by him.

His hair was also rather... well intense was still the word. It seemed to be somehow insulting gravity with how it pointed up without effect. It must be some sort of futuristic hair gel or something.

As for clothes wore the oddest combination of a tailored brown suit with blue pinstripes with a dark shirt and even tie. But he wore ratty trainers that so shouldn't of gone with the suit, yet somehow they did.

Far more important that any of that was his eyes. At a glance they were soulful brown eyes. The kind many a girl I'd known back home would happily spend hours dreamily staring into when they weren't writing poems about the.

Not that they could of done either of those thing because even I could see the pain behind those eyes, and the anger, and fear. Windows to his very soul.

I just had to look away.

"You're impossible" stated the Doctor.

That wasn't exactly something I'd expected him to say upon meeting me, but it was better than a violent reaction at least.

"I can't be impossible" I corrected " I clearly exist".

With that I punched the wall in order to prove I was solid.

"See look I have mass and everything"

The fact that the Doctor could sense that I was a Time Lord was no surprise as while my mind was protected by a layer of tin foil sown into my hat that only worked to stop weaker forms of telepathy or more distant ones. I'd known that should the two of us be on the same planet at the same time then there was a good chance that he would detect me. The Ood singing had flooded the area in a psychic sense but at this range it wasn't strong enough to stop The Doctor from detecting me.

"What's impossible" asked Donna.

"I'm a Time Lord, well sort of" I explained "I wasn't born one. I used to be human, but a god like being changed me and then gave me my very own TARDIS".

That was a very simple way of putting it so I explained again using big words, technical terms and other things that made the headache I was already getting much worse.

The Doctor took a moment to mull it all over.

"Okay so maybe not impossible then, but still its unlikely. I've never heard of anything that could turn a human into a Time Lord. I mean it's been tried but it never ends well. And it sounds like this god thing did it to be nice, which is scary because it really shouldn't of ended well and that does make me wonder if it can be equally cruel.

That was true. Becoming a Human Time Lord could kill Donna Noble. Then again there was River Song, but she was hardly the most stable of people and she wasn't a pure Time Lord at all. Pretty close but not quiet the same thing.

As the being that had made this all possible. I'd been under the impression that I had created it. The Traveller was just meant to be a ROB (Random Omnipotent Being) that I'd invented. Only now I was left wondering if it had invented me. Still I'd named myself after the ROB as a sort of thank you. My Time Lord name was The Traveller.

"Not in this universe" I pointed out "but that doesn't mean that it couldn't happen elsewhere".

"Oh he's definitely a Space man" decided Donna Noble "only men from Mars talk like that".

The Doctor was still trying to process that he wasn't alone in the universe, which he hadn't been before as the Master was only sort of dead. The rest of the Time Lords were in another dimension so they didn't count. But he didn't know that. So over all he likely had a headache as bad as mine was soon going to be.

"Actually I'm from Cardiff" I explained to the time travelling temp "I just work in outer space".

Hearing that seemed to make the Doctor snap out of his thoughts.

"Of course the Rift!" he shouted out "its not just a rift in time it's a rift in space and maybe even a gateway for things from outside this universe enter this one".

"Yep" I replied "its a gateway across time, space and dimensions. You can access any number of parallel worlds with the right calculations as long as you remember to fill the tank first".

Only one other person on this planet understood that.

"Yes right" agreed my fellow Time Lord "you'd never be able to make more than one whole trip before recharging, and you'd end having replace a few parts if you tried, but you could do it, and in another universe the rules would be different. You could have beings powerful to do what is nearly impossible".

"Hence human becomes Time Lord. I even got an impressive download. Including the rules".

"You guys have rules?" inquired Donna.

"A few" I replied "The important ones are: No committing genocide. No altering of fixed events. No breeding with other species. Don't let anyone else use time travel to alter the past. Don't share our tech. Don't interfere with races that don't time travel. Don't alter your own past".

"You have a rule against having children with other races?" asked Donna "that sounds a bit racist".

Well the Time Lords had their reasons. Besides I had the feeling that the mother of the Doctor's children might have been human. It would explain why he seemed to attached to Earth and why he understood so well the cross-breeding was such a bad idea.

His kids could of died very young and that would put him of the idea of having anymore.

"Yeah" I answered "but we'd hardly want to raise children living the life we do".

"You're not suppose to risk it either" reminded The Doctor.

While there could be a very good reason as to why The Doctor never did more than kiss Rose, however the rule clearly stated that we couldn't breed with the 'lesser races' they had nothing to say the subject of safe sex.

"Given that you've broken the genocide rule I don't think you should judge, and there is such thing as contraception you know".

The Time Lord didn't reply as he was too ashamed of himself as he should be. I might be willing to risk breaking an important rule were as he had broken the most important one more a few times.

"Anyway we can discuss my existence later" I said "we need to save the Ood or they will all feral and started massacring people across the empire, which would led to a vengeful humanity wiping them out, so let's not let that happen".

With that I got moving as I knew the Doctor needed to be were the action was in order to make use of his remarkable mind. He would be able to better process my existence if he other problems to work on.

"Why do they look different?" Donna asked me as we passed a group of Ood that much different that the others.

"They haven't been processed yet" I explained "these are the Ood in their natural state.

"Before they're converted to slavery." The Doctor said, who was now figuring things out "That's their song. We've been hearing them crying out."

"I still can't hear it." Donna said with regret.

I couldn't hear it either but I was blocking it out. The tin foil helped but mostly it was because I didn't want to listen. Still it was starting to hurt not to listen.

"Do you want to?" The Doctor asked as he turned to face his companion

"I wouldn't if I were you" I warned "it's an intense thing to hear even when your trying to block it out".

"I want to hear it." Donna insisted.

She'd regret it.

"Face me." The Doctor instructed Donna.

He then brought his fingers up to her temples and closed his eyes.

Donna Noble gasp as the song crashed through her mind, she began to cry, as she started to understand the suffering of this beings. In turn they could feel her sympathy towards them which only made it worse as they started to sing for her.

"Take it away." Donna finally cried out "I can't bear it".

"You two can still hear it?" Donna found asked.

"I heard it when I got here" I told the Earth Girl "but I can block it out. It's too much for me as well".

"Ever since we arrived here." The Doctor replied

The Time Lord seemed to be shaking with rage at this point or it could have been regret, as he'd ignored the Ood for the most part. When he'd faced the Devil saving the humans had been what matterd to him.

"What have you got there?" the Doctor asked one of the not processed Ood.

"Please show me." He encouraged.

"Hi there…" Donna spoke. "I'm Donna and this is The Doctor, we're here to help".

Then she turned to me and examined me for a moment before turning back to the captive aliens.

"I don't what he's here for but given that they locked up in here with you then I don't think he's going to hurt you either".

"There holding part of their brains" I told the two natives of this reality.

The Ood carefully reached out to the Doctor and held its hands. Showing the spongy mass to the Time Lord

"A secondary brain. It must process memory and emotions." The Doctor explained.

"Remove that and it's like a lobotomy" I added "then you get your slaves".

"They replace it with a translator ball programmed with all the skills they'll need to serve" the Doctor figured.

"I looked for you for a year, Doctor." Donna said, unable to prevent her voice from her voice shaking with emotion. "I thought it'd be so wonderful, like seeing the universe would be beautiful…"

"It is beautiful" I assured "but the Doctor tends to find the ugly bits".

"I want to go home." Donna confessed.

You didn't need to be psychically talented to sense the pain the Doctor was feeling right now. But there was no time to for such things as the rent-a-cops that provided security for this place had gotten inside and soon they would pointing guns at us so they could march us off to met their overlord.

(Line Break)

As we were led to Halpen's office. I took the chance to look around some more. The factory, or whatever it was they called this place, wouldn't have seemed that out of place in the 21st Century. Some sort of retro thing?

"I won't to know what you did?" the big boss demanded.

"You should calm down" I said "stress causes hair loss you know".

"Sigma! Drink!" Halpen yelled out.

I gave the alien a wink as he brought over the 'drink'

Halpen downed it quickly before anyone started adding to his stress.

"Mr Halpen" said the Doctor "I can't help but feel that we have done something to upset you".

One of these days someone was just going to shoot the Doctor just for being a smart arse.

"Be quiet." Halpen snapped at the Time Lord "You're all Ood sympathizers, aren't you?"

"Wanting to free an enslaved race? Yeah, that's kind of my job." The Doctor replied.

"Enslave?" the boss man spat "We help them. They were just running around on this frozen planet. They had no culture, no cilivization."

"Shame old story" I said with a sigh "the more advanced race always enslaves and then destroy the less advanced ones. Either by the way your doing it or one culture just absorbs the other. Same result in the end. That whole non interference thing that they have on Star Trek isn't as silly as I use to think".

Of course the Federation took the extreme going so far as to let entire races die off so as to not risk contaminating their culture, but there had to be some sort of safe middle ground.

"They didn't put up any resistance." Halpen insisted.

"You idiot!" Donna yelled "They're born with their brains in their hands! They have to be peaceful because they're so vulnerable they'd have to trust anyone they met."

Really wouldn't they just evolve into a species that was very good at staying out of sight?

"Oh, good one Donna." The Doctor said in approval before addressing the local dark lord "But you can't control them can you, the red-eye's spread across the whole planet".

"No" the big bad disagreed "We've been doing this for two hundred years without consequence. This is just a rogue batch".

Sometimes I was glad I wasn't human any more. Not often as humans are awesome in so many ways, but to think I'd once had the same kind of DNA as someone like Halpen was quite upsetting.

"But the infection's about to be sterilised!" Halpen informed us with malice.

That was when he made his evil plans of evil clear to everyone.

"The canister's primed. As soon as the core heats up then the gas will be released" one of the thugs reported "Two-hundred marks and counting."

"You're going to gas them?" said a very upset Time Lord.

"Kill the livestock. The Foot and Mouth solution if you will, our ancestors came up with the best ideas and we've found that it works rather well." Halpen answer far too smugly. "We get rid of the infected stock and then start again"

"You're not a farmer" I growled "the Ood are self aware beings not livestock".

"Do you hear that?" The Doctor asked me suddenly "the song it's changed".

I did feel it now that I was paying attention. The Ood must know what was what about to happen.

"Yeah it sounds different" I replied.

"What's different?" Halpen asked as the alarms went off

"What's going on?" Donna cried out as the sounds of explosions, screaming and gunshots started echoing through the base.

"The song changed. It's one of resistance now." The Doctor replied.

"The call to war" I muttered as I started to hear it.

"It's contained to this planet" a science type reported "no reports of strange behaviour else where in the empire"

The empire did have some really good communications equipment. Which wasn't surprising when you consider how much effort we put into talking to each other. Actually I should be thinking of humans as 'them' but sometimes I did still feel like a boy from Earth.

"Then we have a public duty to stop it before it spreads." Halpen responded now trying to sound heroic rather than evil,

"What are you talking about?" The Doctor demanded to know.

I'd been hanging around with the Time Lord for a short time but already I was starting to think that he really should chill more. Getting all emotional about things could be dramatic and all that but it sure was loud. My headache was flaring up again.

"Everything you wanted. We're leaving this planet. The Ood out there will be free of us just like you wanted".

It was just a shame that the same couldn't be said for the ones already in captivity.

"As for you three I think I'll just lock in here and let the Ood deal with you.

"What's in Warehouse 15 that you don't want the world to see?" The Doctor asked before we could be sealed in the office.

"It won't exist for much longer." Halpen spat "so it doesn't matter now"

With that the guards handcuffed us to some pillars and then left the office.

(Line Break)

"You don't know how to get out of handcuffs? You're a bleeding Time Lord and you can't get out of handcuffs!?" Donna yelled in frustration. "Haven't you met Houdini or something?"

Damn why didn't I think of that!

"These are really good handcuffs." The Doctor replied "If I could just get to my sonic…screwdriver…."

I would just have to save us. No idea how but I would keep trying.

"Doctor, Donna friends!" The Doctor was yelling as some of the red eyed Ood entered the room. It must not of been locked after all, that or the alien had opened it.

"The Circle must be broken!" Donna added.

They continued yelling as the Ood came closer, holding up their translator balls ready to kills us all. If only I had a plan.

"Doctor, Donna." One of the Ood said. "Friends."

"That's us!" The Doctor agreed. "Oh yes!"

"The Traveller knows how to help us, and we know how to help you".

I guessed that they were talking about me rather than the being who had turned me almost completely into a Time Lord.

"Okay fine I'll help" I assured as the ugly aliens set us free "I know how to bring this all to an end".

"Then why didn't you do something before?" questioned Donna Noble.

"Because things aren't always black and white" I replied "freeing the Ood wasn't on my agenda because as horrible as it is to enslave people if the empire does rely on that slavery then setting the Ood free could cause the empire to collapse and bring about a dark age across three galaxies. It could start wars at the very least".

Before anyone could argue on that point I carried on talking.

"On the other hand it might work for the best, and it spares our lives I'll help the Ood. But to do that we need to get to Warehouse 15 and we need to go now"

"Right then, allonsy!" The Doctor shouted as he grabbed Donna by the hand and started running.

I followed but only since I really wanted to get this adventure over and done with.

"Thank you!" Donna called back to the Ood as we left.

(Link Break)

"You said something about a Warehouse 15?" the Doctor inquired as we ran.

"It's the cause of all this" I explained "I'm not exactly clear on the details but there's like a big central brain locked up in there and its why the Ood are going all red eyed"

"But how are we going to get there" wondered the Doctor.

"Typical man" commented Donna Noble "you never just ask for directions".

"Sigma!" the Doctor realised when we saw the bosses' personal Ood servant.

"That is correct. I am Ood Designation Sigma." The Ood confirmed

I flinched when the translation sphere thing came into view. I knew how lethal those things could be.

"Sigma my good man. I don't supposed you could show us the way to Warehouse fifteen?" The Doctor asked while pouring on the charm

The English accent was what made it work. You couldn't be that charming without it. Maybe that was why he used it.

"I can help you." Sigma replied "Please follow me."

"So, you know where Warehouse 15 is?" The Doctor asked.

"I do. I have been there many times" Sigma replied.

There was something more animated about this Ood. It was as if this creature was more somehow more alive than the others. But there was no time to think on this matter as we had to run even more.

(Line Break)

"The song is getting louder." The Doctor murmured. "Time to see what is."

With that we stepped into the main area of the warehouse. Which was filled with more very 21st century looking equipment.

Soon we were all stood on a raised platform above a rather deep pit. I really did not like heights. Then there was the smell it made me want to vomit.

"The Ood Brain." The Doctor said "That's the missing link the third element binding them together. Forebrain, hindbrain, and this."

"What does it do?" Donna asked while also studying the huge brain.

"It's a shared mind. Connecting them together. It's the song. It brings them together in song." The Doctor said with amazement.

He was amazed I was just grossed out. Huge brains neither look or smell very nice.

"Cargo. I could go into cargo." Halpen said as he emerged from the shadows "All these empty warehouses, I could start a cargo business after this. Smaller, of course, but no livestock to deal with."

Mostly that was ignored as he did have a gun in his hand.

"They found it in a glacier two centuries ago. Kill that, kill the Ood." Halpen explained when he realised that no one cared about his career plans.

"The circle must be broken" the Doctor said as glanced back at the brain. "It's a telepathic field. That's what's been keeping them apart".

"I guess someone in your family thought all this up" I said causally.

The villains never shot people before they got in a good rant so it was best to keep the bad man talking.

"No, Dr Winters can claim that little smidgen of fame. My Grandfather's head of scientific research, it's his design but his heart just wasn't in it poor man. He went downhill very quickly after it was completed. Almost overnight."

"You." The Doctor said now angry again. "You've been keeping the Ood separated for two hundred years."

"And you Ood Sigma, you brought them here?" Halpen accused his Ood servant. "I gave you your freedom and then you do this?"

"My place is at your side, sir." Sigma replied calmly.

The alien didn't even seem to care about the gun.

"Good Oo-od." Halpen said in a slurred way.

He almost sounded drunk.

"Hold on if that barrier thing is still in place, how come the Ood started to change?" asked Donna

"I don't know. Maybe it took it two centuries to adapt and get around the barrier. The subconscious would be reaching out. Looking for a way back to itself" the Doctor theorised.

"The process was too slow. It had to be accelerated" a science guy explained "You never should have let me near the controls, Halpen. I lowered the barriers to bare minimum."

So he wa a real Friend of the Odd then. Were as I had just been faking it.

"Friends of the Ood" The Doctor said with a smile.

"It's taken me ten years to get to the head of Ood Development" the nerd declared "but I was finally able to help them".

"Never shot someone before." Halpen said with a laugh as he pointed the gun at the science guy. "Normally I wouldn't do it, but today isn't a normal day."

"Would you like a drink, sir?" Sigma asked.

"I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now." Halpen replied.

He was sure was taking a while to pull that trigger.

"Please have a drink, sir." Sigma asked again.

This time the alien stepped between us and the weapon.

"If... if you're going to stand in the way," Halpen threatened. "I...I'll shooot yooou tooo."

The Doctor slowly tried to move Sigma to the side, but the Ood stood firm.

"Please," Sigma requested "Have a drink, sir."

"Yooou've poooisened me?" the evil man finally realised.

"Ood must never kill, sir." Sigma replied.

I assumed that this statement meant something important but I was just waiting for the funny part, so I didn't really pay much attention.

"What is that stuff?" asked The Doctor

"Oh it's not poison" I explained "it's turning Halpen into an Ood".

"Thank you for not giving away our plan" said Sigma directly to me.

"It seemed rather poetic" I said to the alien "and it saves me from having to shoot him".

The Doctor gave me a look but said nothing.

"What the hell does that mean?" Halpen demanded to know.

Clearly his mind was all over the place given that I had just told everyone exactly what was happening.

"That's the funny thing, the subconscious. It takes all sorts of shapes." The Doctor informed Halpen "Revenge came out as Red Eye, anger in the rabid Ood, and then there was Ood Sigma".

"He's mercy" I half remembered.

"Oh yes, all that intelligence and mercy focused within Ood Sigma"

Halpen shakily brought his hand to his head and pulled away a clump of hair.

"What have you done?" Halpen said while sobbing

"They've been preparing you for a long time, Mr Halpen." The Doctor answered rather coldly.

Everyone started to back off, when it looked as the Halpen was going to be sick everywhere. But he wasn't ill just yet and he finally pulled the trigger, only to miss and damage something needed to keep the barriers up.

"You're standing next to the Ood brain Mr Halpen." The Doctor reminded. "And now, the barriers are down. Can you hear the singing?"

Halpen stared at the brain, horror and fear washing over his face.

"What... I'm...not…" Halpen desperately tried to say.

Halpen soon completed his transformation to Ood kind. Tentacles spilled out of his mouth as he straightened up.

"Truly poetic justice" I sniggered.

"He has become Ood kind." Sigma announced "We will take care of him."

I got the sense that this was the real taking care of someone rather than code for something less pleasant.

"After two centuries. The Circle is broken. The Ood can sing!" declared Sigma

The Ood seemed happy enough at least.

"Can we go now?" I requested "I never wanted to be here in the first place".

I was more than a little worried about the empire blaming me for this so getting out of his century might not be such a bad idea.

"Yep time to go" the Time Lord half shouted "besides, Ryder can handle things here. I'm sure more Friends of the Ood will be here soon".

"You can count on me" Ryder assured.

With that we all headed out, and I found myself following the Doctor and Donna even though I wasn't actually going with them. That was something the Time Lord failed to notice at first as he was too busy enjoying the new song the aliens were singing. It was very beautiful and it seemed to make everything easier somehow.

"Do you have a ship?" inquired The Doctor as I started to move away from the happy Ood "I mean you must have somewhere to go".

"I have my own TARDIS" I explained "I've been looking after myself. Exploring the future, that sort of thing".

"By yourself" realised a concerned Doctor "that's never a good thing. Trust me on that".

Neither of us spoke for a few moments but then he made the offer.

"Look I can't let a sort of Time Lord run about time and space... oh I now sound like an authority figure don't I? I must be getting old... but if you have your own TARDIS you can just you dock with mine and travel with me for a while".

It half sounded like he was asking me out. Actually it more than that he was pretty much asking me to move in with him.

"You do like to pick up strays" I commented.

The Doctor smirked and said.

"I suppose I do but I think it would be a good idea for you not to travel alone, and besides I'm guessing you didn't go the academy so there's a lot for you to learn about being a Time Lord. I could teach you.. well some of it".

Dude really was lonely.

"Could be fun" I allowed.

Okay so it could be totally awesome, but there was no need to let him know that.

"Right then" said the Doctor with a big smile "I handle the docking cause it can be tricky and then I'll take Donna home, and we can go see what's out there".

"I don't think you need to worry about losing Miss Noble just yet" I told the Time Lord "I have a feeling she'll be annoying for a good long while yet".

And so would I.


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews**

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I'm glad you like it.

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What was it that it put you off at the start?

**Time Lord Gothic – Back To Earth 1 **

"I still can't believe you have a bloody phone, not that I'm surprised by the cheesy ring-tone, but you. With a phone!"

Was what I heard as I stepped out my TARDIS and into the Doctor's own time machine. The fact that my ship was inside another TARDIS was a bit of a headache, because my control room was bigger than the Doctor's one, so part of brain simply couldn't accept that it somehow fit. I understood the basics of time travel, and I was a lot smarter than I use to be but I was still human enough to a little overwhelmed by such things.

As I closed the door of my ship, which had turned into a dull metal cylinder, I saw Donna Noble thrust the mobile phone into the Doctor's open hands. He acted as if it was some weird piece of alien technology. Which it was for him.

"It's not mine," the Doctor said before answering the phone "Hello?"

"Doctor, it's Martha" said a voice I could barely hear "And I'm bringing you back to Earth!"

Well it was about time.

(Line Break)

The Doctor left the TARDIS first, insisting that he should meet Martha first, no matter how awkward. He acted as if he was meeting with his ex-wife, or something equally as scary.

"Martha Jones" he said

"Doctor" said a female voice.

I couldn't actually see Dr Jones, but I had seen this on the telly so I didn't really need to see anything to know exactly what was going on outside of the TARDIS

"You haven't changed a bit!" Martha added.

No one said anything, and I was too busy fiddling with the contents of my coat to really care about what was happening outside. A lot was about to happen, and while I had no intention of changing anything. I knew enough about time travel to understand that things would work out differently just because I was here. So I needed to be prepared.

"Right," Martha said as Donna Noble made her way out of the TARDIS "Should have known. Didn't take you long to replace me then".

"Now no fighting!" The Doctor requested "I can't stand fighting".

"Wuss" I muttered as I finally filled my pockets.

"He talks about you all the time," Donna was saying as I walked towards the doors of the TARDIS

"I dread to think," Martha said.

"No, no, no. No. He says nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really... good things" Donna assured

"Oh my god, he's told you everything." Martha moaned as her cheeks flushed slightly.

Poor woman.

"Didn't take long to get over it though. Who's the lucky man?" Donna inquired as she spotted the ring on Dr Jones' finger.

"What man? Lucky what?" The Doctor questioned.

"She's engaged, you prawn," Donna explained, while pointing out the shiny accessory.

"Really, who to?"

The Doctor sounded very surprised. I didn't know why, she okay looking to me. She was bound to be snagged sooner or later. Although she ended up with Mickey the Idiot if I remembered right. So clearly her fiancé wasn't going to remain a lucky man.

"He's called Tom Milligan. He's in pediatrics. Working out in Africa right now, and yes, I know. I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places. Tell me about it".

Ah the rebound guy then. Poor sod.

"Is he skinny?" Donna asked.

Clearly Miss Noble was thinking something along the same lines as myself.

"No," Martha said "He's sort of… strong."

"He is too skinny for words! You give him a hug, you get a..."

Everyone stopped when I finally got noticed.

"Oh I see you got two people following you around now" Martha commented, before asking "anyone else in there?"

"No" the Doctor answered as he closed the door.

"In that case" she said as she took out a radio "This is Dr. Jones. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go. I repeat, this is a go!"

That was when UNIT made its appearance. They had guns, lots of guns.

(Line Break)

Before long we were all at the ATMOS factory. Not by choice.

"What are you searching for?" The Doctor demanded to know as UNIT took control of pretty much everything and everyone that was in sight.

"Illegal aliens," Martha answered.

I was from another universe, so that might include me.

"Is that what you did to her then? Turned her into a soldier?" The temp asked of the Time Lord.

The Doctor glanced away while rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"I hope you don't intend to tell them that I'm not exactly a human being any more?" was my question.

"It'll be fine, I won't let them hurt you" he assured me.

I wasn't quite sure if I believed him or not. However I didn't need to worry much as I soon had a UNIT card in my hand. I was just a plain guest pass, but it was something official looking, and I had other ways of protecting myself.

"You're qualified now? You're a proper doctor." The Doctor was saying to his former companion.

"UNIT rushed it through given my experience in the field" she explained before getting back to business "We're establishing a field base on site. They're all dying to meet you".

Well meeting them could end up costing them all their lives.

"Wish I could say the same," the Doctor muttered.

Soon we were at the entrance mobile UNIT base. We were all allowed in with out fuss and once inside we were approached by the officer in charge of the operation.

"Operation Blue Sky complete, sir," Martha said giving a rather sharp salute "This is the Doctor. Doctor, this is Colonel Mace."

"Sir!" greeted Colonel

"Oh, don't salute," the Doctor grumbled.

"Well, it's an honour, sir" said the UNIT officer "I've read all the files on you and, technically speaking, you're still on staff. You never resigned".

"Did he forget to hand in his six weeks notice" I joked "that is so like him".

I was totally ignored.

"UNIT's changed a bit from then though, it was all a bit more homespun back then." The Doctor was now saying.

Having seen the old show I had to agree.

"Times have changed, sir," Colonel Mace replied.

"Yeah, that's enough of the 'sir', okay"

The Doctor's tone was stern. He really didn't like soldiers. Not that I was happy about so many of them being around me. But that had to do with the fact that they didn't know me. I was an alien, sort of, and they tended to shoot aliens. Not that you could blame them. The aliens kept trying to kill everyone.

"Come on, Doctor," Martha said defensively "You've been on board the Valiant. We've got massive funding from the United Nations. All in the name of home world security".

"A modern UNIT for a modern world," Mace added smugly

"So, this modern UNIT of yours" Donna said jumping into the conversation "Does it always go around arresting factory workers and pointing guns at people. It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there. Oh I'm Donna Noble, since you didn't ask and I'll ave a salute".

"Ma'am," Colonel Mace saluted, while also looking a little guilty.

I was impressed to say the least.

"Thank you," Donna said.

Then Mace looked at me.

"I'm Gothic" I told him "I'm with the Doctor".

Which was true.

"Tell me. What's going on in that factory?" The Doctor said, taking control of the situation.

(Line Break)

Soon enough we were all brought into the ATMOS factory. Colonel Mace seemed happy to leave the Doctor to his own devices. Which involved him poking things with his screwdriver.

"Sonic screwdrivers" I muttered darkly.

I still had no idea how they worked. I had my own toys, but a scanner/interface device that had started off as PSP, but it just didn't have the same multi-tasking capabilities.

"I like it." The Doctor said proudly. "It doesn't maim, it doesn't kill, can get a person out of the nastiest situations and, it's handy if you need to put up a couple of shelves in a jiffy".

He flipped the object in the air, catching it with ease. He was such a show off.

"Fair enough, but it very phallic isn't it" I then said

Before the debate could go any further Donna Noble interrupted.

"If this ATMOS thing is alien, why is it here? Do they want to help us?"

Like me she knew that the Doctor couldn't help but show off how smart he was. He'd been unable to resist cracking this mystery wide open.

"I doubt UNIT would be getting involved with this if that was the case" said the Time Lord "no something else is going on here".

"Maybe it's the cars" I offered, giving everyone a hint "these aliens could be turning them into weapons".

"Weapons, why would someone make a car a weapon?" Donna blurted out, looking confused.

"Do you know how many cars there are on Earth?" The Doctor questioned softly.

When no one answered he supplied the information.

"There are eight hundred million cars on this planet"

The Doctor then placed the ATMOS device into Donna's hands.

"If you can control them with this, that's eight hundred million weapons."

"Kill the people in the car somehow and then run the rest over." Donna reasoned "or just blow them all up".

It was more complex than that, but I didn't offer an another hint in case I screwed things up. I did how show me my scan, which gave him more information to work with.

"Ionising nano membrane carbon dioxide converter - which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level," the Doctor explained as he used my converted PSP "That is very advanced technology, but it looks harmless and it is all Earth-technology. Sure it's like finding a Victorian chimney sweep with a walk-men, but I've seen stranger things".

"Then what is it doing here?" Colonel Mace asked as he and Martha Jones had returned in time to hear that part.

"Do you mind backing up a bit?" The Doctor asked of the Colonel.

"Sorry. Am I in your light?" Mace asked, immediately stepping to the side.

"You're wearing a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me." The Doctor snapped.

"If you insist. I'll go see how Miss Noble is doing" Mace replied stiffly.

I hadn't noticed Donna was gone, which was meant she was off being sneaky.

"He's a good man" Martha said to the Time Lord.

"People with guns are usually the enemy in my books." The Doctor replied.

I had to speak at this point.

"They have to use guns, Doctor. They don't have vast amounts of knowledge and access to advanced technology. They just have what they have, and they do the best they can with it. And given that they haven't blown up their own planet, maybe you shouldn't judge".

Before he could say anything about that. A loud voice filled the room.

"Oi, you lot!" Donna announced as she entered

Colonel Mace hurried in from the other side of the plastic sheets to join us.

"You don't know where to look, forget the gadgets you should of checked the paperwork. "Did I ever tell you? Best temp in Chiswick." She pointed to herself with a grin. "I can find my way round an office blindfold, and the first thing I noticed was an empty file."

She waved the blue binder in the air, triumphantly much like a hero would hold a magical item that could save the day.

"What's it for?" The Doctor asked.

"Sick days. There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip, nothing. Not ever! They don't get sick. At all"

Donna emphasised her point by thrusting forward the completely empty binder.

"I use to work in an office" I said to the group "and I know she's right. People take sick days. I bet the accident book is empty too".

"That can't be right," Mace said with disbelief, snatching the file away to check it's empty contents.

"You've been checking out the building, when you should've been checking out the workforce" Donna added.

The Doctor beamed with pride in that moment. He really did know how to pick the best companions. Hopefully I'd learn how he did it.

"I can see why he likes you" Martha said.

"Super temp!" Donna laughed playfully.

"Doctor Jones," Mace then ordered "Set up a medical post, start examining the workers. I'll get them sent through".

"Come on, Donna," Martha said "Give me a hand".

As for the Doctor he had another avenue of investigation, and it looked as if I would tagging along with him.

(Line Break)

"So this, this ATMOS thing. Where did it come from?" the Doctor asked, a somewhat annoyed Colonel Mace.

"Luke Rattigan himself" the officer answered

"And 'himself' would be?" The Doctor inquired.

By now I was already on wiki page, and I was ready to give the Time Lord a quick summery.

"He was a child genius. He invented the Fountain 6 search engine when he was 12 years old. Became a millionaire. He now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students he handpicked from all over the world. Oh and he's still inventing things, obviously".

Got to love the internet. Both versions of it. The one the Second Human Empire covered three galaxies, and it had endless amounts of free porn.

"A hothouse for geniuses, wouldn't mind going there" The Doctor said "I get lonely sometimes".

"Hey" I protested.

I was standing right next to him. He was so rude.

"Um…N-Not that I'm saying you aren't clever, cause I'm sure you are".

"Don't bother" I said "I'm the one person around here who knows what is actually going on anyway. So you just keep stumbling around while I watch and laugh on the inside".

That got me a questioning look.

"Spoilers" I told them.

"I need to speak to this Rattigan bloke" The Doctor then said.

Either he thought I was winding him up, or he'd just figured that I was protecting the time line. It was a little of both actually.

"It's ten miles outside London. How are you going to get there?" Mace pointed out.

We had Time Machines, duh.

"Well, then get me a Jeep!" The Doctor said.

Okay so we wouldn't use our space ships. I assumed he had a good reason.

"Jenkins!" Mace called at a rather loud volume.

A UNIT soldier came forward. He looked a little young to be a soldier and I realised that he was likely going to be dead very soon. That made me feel rather bad for not just going into orbit with my TARDIS and sorting this all out myself. I could rig up a bomb easily enough. But that would change all of history, which was a bad idea.

"Sir!" replied Jenkins while giving the Colonel a salute.

"You will accompany the Doctor and take orders from him" the officer instructed.

"Yeah," the Doctor said with "I don't do orders."

Colonel Mace simply ignored the time lord and kept talking.

"Any sign of trouble, get Jenkins to declare a Code Red. And good luck to you"

Yeah he was going to need it. In fact we all were.

(Line Break)

"Donna!" The Doctor called out after we tracked down his red headed friend "We're going to the countryside! Fresh air and geniuses!"

"I'm not going with you." Donna said quietly "I've been thinking and, I'm sorry, but I'm going home."

"Oh." The Doctor said, as he seemed to deflate It's a bit soon. Really? Already?"

This was going to be so funny.

"I've got to." Donna replied

"Well…If that's what you want…"It's just… there was so much I wanted to show you."

Donna tilted her head The Doctor began his little speech, realising very quickly that the super smart Time Lord

"The Medusa Cascade, the Diamond Planet of Midnight."

Oh god I'd forgotten about Midnight. Might be a good idea to tell him to avoid that planet. No chance of me going there, that was for certain.

"Thank you Donna Noble. You've helped me in so many ways. You're brilliant, you're just…"

That was when it all finally clicked into place.

"You're just popping home for a visit aren't you?" he asked.

"You dumbo." Donna said, shaking her head at the stupid genius.

"And then you're coming back here. Right. I'm not going to hear the end of this, am I?" The Doctor asked next.

"It was an impressive speech" I said "or at least a very impressive start to a speech".

Again I was ignored.

"Give me a ride home, will you?" Donna asked, as Jenkins parked the Jeep he'd gotten from somewhere.

(Line Break)

"I suppose you're The Doctor then?" Rattigan said, rather than greet anyone as a polite human being would

"'Ello." The Doctor said while grinning like an idiot.

How did he know that? Had his alien masters told him to be on the alert for the Time Lord?

"Your commanding officer phoned ahead" Rattigan said.

Oh well that explained it.

"This is Ross, say hello Ross." The Doctor informed while gesturing at Jenkins before then pointing at me "And he is..."

"Wondering why you have scheduled exercises" I said "I hated P.E lessons in school".

Again I was mostly ignored. But I did get a scowl from Rattigan, which was great because I too hated him already.

"Lets have a look then, I can smell genius…in a good way."

"And any-way. With the stuff you've got here…you could…I don't know…Move to another planet?"

"If only that was possible" was the genius's reply.

"I always thought the Alcubierre Warp Drive was a good idea" I said deciding to show off "Stretching spacetime isn't..."

"I think you'd better come with me." Rattigan said interrupting me.

He led us into a different room, and I spotted the teleporter at once. It was kind of hard to miss actually. Must be a Time Lord thing.

"You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that." Rattigan remarked.

"He called you a grunt." The Doctor said as he turned to Ross and then back to Luke "Don't call Ross a grunt, he's nice, we like Ross. Don't we Gothic?"

"Sure do" I replied.

"What exactly do you want!" Rattigan snapped.

"Well you see I just wanted to met the man who could invent something as sophisticated as the ATMOS system" was the answer the Doctor gave.

"I'm a man with vision." Rattigan said while puffing his chest out.

Damn this guy had an ego.

"Ye-ah." The Doctor conceded, before saying "But it's a short sighted vision. Cos ATMOS means more driving"

"More cars means more petrol being used" I added.

"As an end result the oil's going to run out faster than ever." The Doctor finished. "The ATMOS system actually makes thing worse."

"Ah-hah! See. That's a tautology. You can't say 'ATMOS system' because it stands for Atmospheric Emissions System. you're saying 'Atmospheric Emissions System system..."

The Doctor shot me a bemused glance. Genius could be so stupid sometimes.

"Its been a long time since anyone's said no to you hasn't it?" The Doctor queried sternly.

"I'm still right though!" Luke Rattigan insisted

The Doctor's tone became one of sympathy.

"It's not easy, is it? Being clever? Because you look at the world around you and make connections. This matches to that which matches to this. But no one else sees. The rest of the world is so slow"

It did seem that way sometimes. But I'd always found the even average people can surprise you by very being insightful at times.

Then the Doctor took out the ATMOS, he gotten his hands on back at the factory.

"And then there's this. Because this is like..." he promted.

"Finding a Victorian chimney sweep with a walk-men" I supplied.

"No way you made this by yourself" the Doctor carried on "you had to have help and I bet you got that from them to".

Witht that the Doctor stepped into the teleporter.

"What is it?" Ross queried, now sounding a little worried.

Sharp kid, he'd caught on to the fact that it was alien very quickly once he had paid it some attention.

"Looks like a thing doesn't it? People never question things, they just think 'oh it's a thing' and move on. But me, we-ll I make connections and this…looks like a teleport pod"

With the press of a button and a flash of colour, The Doctor disappeared.

"He'll be back in a few seconds" I promised.

Then everything would get more than a little crazy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Time Lord Gothic – Back To Earth 2 **

"Back back back…" the Doctor urged, just after reappearing in what was an impressive light show.

"What's happening?" Jenkins the solider asked.

The Doctor might have responded to that question had he the time, however he didn't as a short figure made his entrance using teleporter, a second before the Time Lord fused the controls in place with a wave of his handy-dandy sonic screwdriver.

"Maybe I should get myself one of those" I muttered quietly to myself.

"Sontaran!" The Doctor yelled out clearly and firmly. "That's your name isn't it? You're a Sontaran aren't you? And how do I know that? Fascinating isn't it? Enough to keep us alive".

Should work, but I had a backup plan in case it didn't. Sontaran's weren't the only ones who could disable weapons.

"I didn't realise we were in danger of losing our lives" Ross Jenkins said as he moved to upholster his gun

"Don't bother, it wouldn't work" I told the trooper.

"A true warrior always reaches for his weapon" said the alien conqueror.

"He's right, isn't he?" The Doctor commented "The Cordoline signal would have stopped the bullets"

The Doctor then sniffed the air and said

"Copper excitation. You can smell it".

Now that he mentioned it there was a sight tangy whiff in the air. Although that could be a by-product of using the teleporter.

"You should warn Colonel Mace about your guns not working" I whispered to the UNIT solider.

"How do you know all of this?" the helmeted Sontaran ordered Rattigan to tell him "Who are these people?"

The Doctor took firm control of the conversation. He didn't let Rattigan get a word in edgeways.

"This isn't typical Sontaran behaviour though, is it? Hiding. Using gas and teenag boys? Stopping bullets? A true Sontaran should face bullets with dignity" The Doctor scolded.

"You dishonour me sir" said the Sontaran. "I shall look into my enemy's eyes."

The alien pulled off his helmet to reveal an ugly, potato like head. Only this being was not a harmless kid's toy.

"Your name?" The Doctor inquired.

"General Staal of the 10th Sontaran battle fleet; Staal the Undefeated." The Sontaran responded, as he placed his helmet beneath his arm.

"Aww, that's no good. I mean what if you do get defeated. What will you call yourself then; Staal the not-so-undefeated-anymore-but-never-mind?" The Doctor mock asked.

Bad guys always make this mistake. They let him talk. If I was the villain, I'd shoot the Doc on sight and keep shooting until there was nothing left. Then I'd nuke the site from orbit. Just to be sure.

"Still, Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy, dedicated to warfare. A clone-race, with only one weakness." The Doctor said as he picked up a tennis racquet and ball.

I loved this bit.

"Sontarans have no weakness" Staal argued.

"I imagine being a clone of a clone could led to some genetic degradation" I commented.

"Well yeah there's that, but there are Sontarans who breed naturally and of course they are great at genetic engineering. But there's something else you should all know. You see Sontaran's are fed by a probic vent at the back of their neck. That's their real weakness, which means they always have to face their enemies in battle. Its cool isn't it." The Doctor explained with a grin.

"A Sontaran would rather face death than the dishonour of fleeing the battlefield." Staal scoffed.

"Yet you're staying in orbit rather than invading" I pointed out "that's not very brave now is it?".

"We stare into the face of death." Staal huffed pompously.

Which didn't really answer my question.

"Yeah, well. Stare at this."

With a swing of the racquet, The Doctor served the ball catching Staal the-now-defeated to the back of the probic vent. Which as I'd expected made him collapse.

Before the alien could recover we were all running away again.

Always with the running.

(Line Break)

Rather than return to the mobile UNIT base, The Doctor insisted in going to Chiswick in order to find Donna Noble.

Things went down hill rather fast after that, and not just because we were in Chiswick. The Noble's car was now filling with gas and Donna's Grandfather was about to die.

"Doctor! Help him, he can't breathe in there!"

The Doctor tried to sonic the door open but the ATMOS device had it deadlock sealed. Somehow.

"Donna… I can't"

The Time Lord shook his head helplessly as Donna's stared at him in disbelief and horror.

As for me I took what had started off as Samsung phone. Now it was a device that allowed me to take control of computer system just by taking a picture of it. I really had no idea how that worked, as having a load of information downloaded into your head didn't mean you have real knowledge. However I had discovered that if I focused on something else while fiddling around with some tech I did sometimes build useful little gadgets for reasons I didn't understand.

This phone was one of them. It was limited in that it could only give me control over one piece of machinery at a time, and really simple machines, like say a steam engine, which lacked electronics couldn't be controlled. Also it didn't work on Time Lord tech either. However the modern car was easily controlled.

I took the photo, and then opened the menu. I scrolled down to the provided lock/unlock option and selected it. The car unlocked with a beep.

"How did you do that?" Donna asked as her grandfather was pulled from the dangerous vehicle.

"Science" was the answer I gave.

"Thank you" the time travelling temp said then.

Without asking for permission The Doctor took my hack phone (which is what I called it) and started pressing buttons. He switched off the ATMOS device within the car, before returning the hack phone to me.

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" Donna asked as she noticed that other cars were now filling the air with toxic gas.

"Get back to UNIT. If we can find out what's in the gas, then I can find a way to get rid of it." The Doctor murmured "hopefully by now Martha will have warned Colonel Mace about the Sontarans. Then we can stop them"

"How?" Donna asked "Look around you. People are dying?"

"Oh, come now Donna. If we can stop the cars soon enough, the gas will dissipate on its own" The Doctor explained with a sigh.

Or he could burn it away without igniting the oxygen in the atmosphere.

We all then heard the honking of a horn and turned to see that transport had arrived.

"And there's Ross with …"

The Doctor trailed off, staring at the beaten up car Ross had found. It... it didn't have ATMOS installed and that was what mattered.

"Transport. Right. Now, allons-y!"

"Donna!" called out the red head's mother "You can't go with them. Stay with us!"

"Mum…" Donna replied with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Go on, girl!" her Grandfather caled out "We can take care of ourselves. Get going. Go save everybody"

"Seal off all your windows and doors." The Doctor called out to the older memebers of the Noble family as we all got into the car. "It'll keep the gas out"

"Think you can stop this?" Ross Jenkins asked the Doctor as he pushed the old car to its limits.

"Course I can." The Doctor replied, with a big smile plastered across his face. "It's just a matter of finding out how".

I had a backup plan just in case, but the Doc's way was the only thing that would get rid of the gas safely.

(Line Break)

"We're at the factory." Ross Jenkins the solider informed us.

The clone feed gas was thick in the air that surrounded factory and a few guards were shooting out the ATMOS devices trying to stop them from filling the air with more toxins.

"It's not just here" I pointed out "It's nearly ever car on the planet!"

"It's so thick." Donna said with a cough.

The temp was fanning her face and trying not to cough.

"It's not so bad for us" he said meaning he and myself "You get inside the TARDIS".

He then stopped and smiled again.

"Oh, I never gave you a key. There you go." he said cheerfully as he handed her the shiny object.

"I don't have a key and my ship is..."

"This a big moment for me" The Doctor said while handing me a second key "I don't just let anyone have a TARDIS key you know".

I handed him a spare key to my time machine. Which made him very happy, but I was already thinking that I might regret doing so one day.

"Yeah, big moment" said a coughing Donna sarcastically, "maybe we can have a celebration after the world's finished ending."

With that we went out separate ways.

(Line Break)

"Right then, here I am, good. Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle, there is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me" The Doctor declared as we entered the mobile command centre.

"And what are you going to do?" Mace demanded to know.

"I've got the TARDIS, I'm going to get aboard their ship." The Doctor replied

For a second his gaze fell upon the 'woman' who looked exactly like Martha Jones, as she began to fiddle with something under the table she was sitting at.

There was no bad smell for me, but there was a sense of wrongness about her. Nothing about her appearance seemed off however Her voice seemed a little different. Maybe that was my brains way of telling me that she wasn't really who she seemed to be.

"C'mon" the Time Lord said to the clone of his old friend "we've got to get to the TARDIS".

Of course it was gone by the time we got there. I could have prevented this from happening. However this was the past to me, so I didn't want to interfere with events.

"Where's the TARDIS?" the clone asked.

The Doctor raced forward and started to sniff the air. He even

"Taste that, in the air. Yecch. That sort of metal tangy smell. Teleport exchange".

That was what I'd picked up at the academy. I couldn't smell the Cordoline signal, which suggested that my sense of smell was inferior to the Doctor's that or detecting such things required some sort of training.

"It's the Sontarans, they've taken it. I'm stuck, on Earth like... like an ordinary person. Like a human! How rubbish is that! Sorry, no offence, but come on!"

"And here I thought you liked humans?" I said with a chuckle.

I'd be worried but I had a teleporter of my own that could get me inside my own TARDIS. Assuming that were the shields were down. However that wasn't an option as the potato men had defences of their own.

"Like them yeah. Want to be one?" The Doctor pulled a face at me as he said that.

"Not human either" I reminded "I'm stuck here too"

"So what do we do?" the Martha clone demanded to know

"Well... I mean it's shielded, they could never detect it." The Doctor spoke quietly before saying more loudly "Martha?"

'Martha' said

"What?"

He turned to stare thoughtfully at 'Martha'.

"I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?"

"No, what for?" she asked.

There was no concern for them in her voice. That was horrible to hear from someone who looked like Martha Jones. She sounded soulless to me. It was really creepy.

That was when I remembered that Time Lords were psychic. Which meant that my extra sensory abilities were picking up on the clones unnaturalness and trying to warn me. For the Doctor this meant a bad smell, for me it was all in the voice, but it was a psychic thing the clone did not actually smell bad or sound wrong because if she did the humans around us would know something was wrong.

"Because the gas. To tell them to stay inside" the Doctor supplied.

"Course I will, yeah, but, what about Donna? I mean, where's she?" 'Martha' inquired.

"Oh, she's gone home. She's not like you, she's not a soldier. Right. So, avanti!" he shouted "back to UNIT".

(Line Break)

"Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?" The Doctor asked as he studied a sample of what the ATMOS cars were filling the air with.

"We're working on it," said Martha.

"It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density," a female UNIT soldier with blonde hair called out from one of the stations. "We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City."

"And who are you?" the Doctor queried.

"Captain Marion Price, sir." She stood and saluted sharply.

The Doctor groaning with annoyance.

"Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute."

I took a scan of the gas, and handed it to the Doctor, who then smiled. He understood now what was going on. However there was no time to tell anyone else as the aliens had called.

"Doctor, breathing your last?" the Staal said with a smirk on his silly face.

"My God," Mace said in more than an undertone. "They're like trolls."

I could see why he would think that. But I'd stick with the potato men name.

"Yeah, loving the diplomacy, thanks," the Doctor said, before turning to address the Sontaran boss. "So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?"

"How dare you!" Staal shouted.

"Oh, now that's diplomacy?" Mace remarked dryly.

"Doctor, you impugn my honour!" Staal continued.

The Doctor was lounging about in a chair, acting as if he didn't have a care in the world when he finally answered.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle because then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or, are you lot planning something else? Cos this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?"

The Doctor knew, but it never hurt to get confirmation, and there was also no need to let the aliens know how much we knew.

"A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces".

The Doctor smiled triumphantly, having obtained all the confirmation he'd needed just from that one statement.

"Aaah, the war's not going so well, then? Losing, are we?"

"Such a thing is impossible," Staal said angrily.

"What war?" Mace asked, sounding more than a little befuddled.

"The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging, far out in the stars for 50,000 years. 50,000 years of bloodshed, and for what?"

These guys made the Imperuim of Man look like the United Federation of Planets. Heck the IOM would of won the war.

"For victory," Staal answered. "Sontar-ha!"

The Doctor just rolled his eyes as they began their group chanting session and he changed the channel. Mace muttered something about 'official representation', whatever that was, and how he needed to handle the communications with the Sontarans, but the Doctor just ended up changing the channel back to General Staal.

"Finished?" asked the Lord of Time.

"You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold!" Staal said while gesturing to a blue phone box "We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS."

Two actually since mine was inside his.

"Well as prizes go, that's... noble. As they say in Latin, Donna Nobis Pacem. But did you never wonder about its design? It's phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. You and I."

"All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor," Staal replied, thinking that the Time Lord was actually talking to him.

"Big mistake though. Showing it to me." The Doctor bluffed

"Cos I've got remote control".

The transmission ended abruptly and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh well, that achieved nothing," Mace said.

"We'll see about that" remarked the Doctor

(Link Break)

By now everything was descending into madness. The UNIT soldiers had been warned that their guns wouldn't work, but they hadn't abandoned their posts.

"Pull your men back!" The Doctor insisted once more. "Their guns wont work."

There was a moment's pause before Mace gave into the wisdom in that statement and ordered the UNIT troops to fall back, before heading into a side-office, followed by The Doctor. I stayed were I was so that the Time Lord could talk to Donna on his phone without me getting in the way.

As for me I could only hope that the warning Jenkins had sent and the fact that Mace hadn't delayed in giving the order to retreat had saved a few lives.

"Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside?" Mace asked of the Time Lord when the Doctor was off the phone.

"Because they wanted UNIT here. You gave them something they needed. Something that's now hidden inside the factory. Something precious"

He'd already figured it out. Now he just needed to put his plan into action.

"Then we've got to recover it. This Cordelaine signal thing, how does it work?" Mace asked.

"It causes expansion of the copper shell of a bullet which..." I answered.

Apparently that was all he needed to hear.

"Excellent. I'm on it"

He then got up and left the room and totally ignored what the clearly angry Doctor yelled after him.

"For the millionth time, you can't fight Sontarans!"

I disagreed with that. The potato men were not the best soldiers in the universe. Humans in the future would fight the aliens many times and the people of Earth would win those wars, because they had to in order to survive and to create empires that spanned galaxies. The Doctor just didn't like soldiers. It coloured his view of what human soliders could do when they went to war.

(Line Break)

"What about Colonel Mace?" the Not-Martha clone creature asked, as she followed the Doctor and I down a corridor.

"Nah, just you and me." The Doctor said, his sonic blinking a signal that led to were the real Martha was. "Just like the good old days, but there's three of us this time. So Allon-sy you two".

The clone and I followed him and his outstretched screwdriver down into some sort of basement.

"No Sontarans down here," the Doctor murmured quietly, entering the dimly lit area. "They can't resist a battle. Here we go".

We walked down a corridor to a door that was locked. The sonic screwdriver made short work of the lock and the door opened. Which made me want one even more.

It was then that The Doctor caught sight of the real Martha Jones who strapped to a metal frame, and unconscious. The Time Lord went right over to her. Clearly he was very eager to save his friend. As for me I hung back and took out a weapon of my own.

"Martha, I'm so sorry" the Time Lord to said to his former companion as the clone took out a gun and pointed it at him.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" The Doctor asked as he turned around.

"Wish you carried a gun now?" the clone asked mockingly

"Not at all" was all the Time Lord said in reply.

Given that the Cordelaine signal was still up that gun was nothing more than a useless lump of metal. The weapons that didn't use copper hadn't arrived yet, however the Valiant had and that was enough to contain the invaders it seemed.

"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time" bragged the clone.

"Doing exactly what I wanted. I needed you to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent" explained The Doctor.

"When did you know?" the clone asked.

"What, you? Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying 'clone'. But even Colonel Mace wouldn't of been fooled if you hadn't kept the real Martha alive. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive."

The Doctor reached out to unplug the transfer device, the clone tried to fire but nothing happened, and as the real Martha Jones woke up the replica dropped to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

Author Note

A bit short but it had to be since Gothic clued the Doctor into what was happening by showing him his scan of the clone feed. Plus I do want to get to the point where Gothic has his own adventures with Jenny.

Reviews

Yinko

Well each Gothic is alternate version of myself so they will have different personalites. Plus he's a Time Lord, so he's not going to have a human view of things either.

War Sage

They never actually invade the Earth so you might be dissapointed by the ending. But it wasn't as if Gothic would just stand around and let the planet get invaded.

loopy-loophole 

I'm finding it tricky to write. It's not going as well as I hoped. Hopefully the story will improve once I don't have to do stick to know events.

davycrockett100

Thank you.

**Time Lord Gothic – Back To Earth 3**

Everything was still going crazy all around us. UNIT had been (judging by the sound of gunfire we'd heard) in the process of taking the factory back. But we didn't stick around to find out if they'd win or not because we ended up using the teleporter to get to the Rattigan Academy.

Waiting for us was Luke Rattigan, and he had a gun. But we were in no danger because the Cordelaine signal was being transmitted by equipment built into the teleporter. Which meant that Rattigan's gun wouldn't fire.

"Don't tell anyone what I did! It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they..."

The Doctor just stepped forward and took the gun away as he kept walking towards the table behind the evil nerd.

"If see one more gun..." he muttered threw the weapon to the ground.

I picked it up and found to my amusement that it wasn't even a real gun. Rattigan was perhaps not the killer he might seem to be. That or he was a total fool.

Meanwhile the Doctor had turned his attention to the various experiments laid on the table, and he had begun swiftly began assembling what I knew to be an atmospheric converter.

(Line Break)

"You know, that coat, sort of works," Donna told Martha, as we all stood and watched the Gallifreyan at work.

"I feel like a kid in my Dad's clothes." Martha admitted.

"Oh, well if you're calling him dad you're definitely getting over him." Donna remarked.

"Got my own man now." Martha said with a smile

Thankfully I didn't have to endure the girl talk for long. Which was good because it was painful to endure.

"That smoke out there is caesofine " The Doctor explained as he led us outside "You see the Sontarans had to stop the missiles, for the same reason as why were holding back. Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. One nuke could've sparked off the whole thing".

"What, like set fire to the atmosphere?" asked Martha with great concern.

"Yeah igniting the oxygen supply would be a very bad thing" I agreed.

If I remembered right that had been a concern during the first nuclear tests, not that this had stopped anyone from using the bombs.

"They need the gas to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here planning a little trip, weren't you?"

"They promised me a new world." Rattigan said, sounding not that different from a toddler who had been promised sweets that had never been delivered.

"You were building equipment, getting ready to terraform a whole world so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this! An atmospheric converter".

The Doctor grabbed the device that he modified and then ran outside. We all followed and while he started setting up, everyone else looked at the fog that was covering the city.

"That's London." Donna said sounding as if she might crey "You can't even see it. My family's in there."

"If I can get this on the right setting..." the Doctor muttered.

"Doctor, hold on, you said the atmosphere would ignite!" Martha yelped.

"That's the point" I said "it will burn the gas away".

With a shout, The Doctor pressed the button and a flame shot up into the sky.

The Doctor's mutters of 'please, please, please, please, please, please, please' were distracting but not enough to make anyone look away from the fire storm above our heads. For a second it looked as the oxygen in the air had ignited, but then then sky cleared as the flames dissipated.

The blue of the sky was without a doubt the most wonderful sight we could of hoped for. And it was really blue, so I guessed that more than the clone feed gas had been burned away. A lot of polluation would have been consumed as well.

"He's a genius," Luke Rattigan had to admit.

That was when The Doctor picked up the converter and said.

"Now we're in trouble."

He ran back into the building and led us into the room with the teleport.

"Right, so... Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh... so many times. Gothic…take my TARDIS when you leave, try not to blow a whole in space and time. Luke, do something clever with your life."

Donna figured it first.

"You're saying goodbye."

"Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..."

He stopped there and paused, at a total loss to describe what he was about to do.

"You're going to burn them." Martha realised.

"But you'll just kill yourself along with them." Donna said.

"Just send that thing up, on a timer or something." Martha pleaded.

"Not a bad idea" I said as I pulled out two devices.

One was a stun gun. I zapped the Time Lord and said.

"Don't worry he's only knocked out"

Moving quickly I took the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor. I then used it to attach the timer that I had built before I'd even left the TARIS, to the atmospheric converter. Then I used my hack phone to take control of the teleporter. That was surprisingly easy I didn't even have to sonic it.

The teleporter only went to two places, so even without the option that read 'Sontaran Battle Fleet' I'd of had a fifty/fifty chance of getting it right. The phone took a moment to bypass the lockdown the potato men had put up to stop anyone teleporting up, but compared to Time Lords the Sontaran were a primitive lot.

I used the sonic, which worked by pointing and thinking, to start the timer, and I when it hit three seconds I sent it up.

"Outside" I instructed everyone who was awake.

We got out just in time to see that something far above us had exploded.

"See the day is saved and no drama" I declared.

I'd even saved Luke Rattigan's life. Which could turn out to be a good thing if he decided to do something clever with his life.

"That was a bit anti-climatic" I then commented "I just saved all of mankind, there should be a parade or something. Ah well I got fireworks at least".

The Doctor soon woke up and he was not happy about me stopping him from killing himself.

He was weird about that sort of thing.

(Line Break)

Hours later The Doctor and I along with the real Martha Jones had finished up at the factory while Donna had gone home to spend the rest of the day with her family.

The Doctor had spent a lot his time assuring Colonel Mace that Martha was no longer a security threat, and then he'd showed them how to help the factory workers.

When the potato men's ship had blown up they'd all stopped being mindless drones. However because they had all worked for so long without rest, nearly of them had lapsed into some sort of coma. So the Time Lord had to show the medical staff how to treat the poor sods. I was surprised that they were even alive.

After that we'd all gone back to the TARDIS to get changed and relax a little until it was time to leave. We'd all needed a few hours sleep and something to eat, and for once The Doctor seemed to be in no rush to go anywhere new.

When I entered the control room of The Doctor's TARDIS he was staring determinately at the screen of the TARDIS computer, at what even I didn't understand but he was still staring when Martha Jones made an appearance.

"How's everything?" The Doctor queried as he noticed her entrance.

"My family are fine." she informed her friend "They're feeling much better about things now they knew you were the one who saved the world".

No mention of me I noted.

"I'm glad." The Doctor replied. "Fancy a trip?"

He motioned eagerly to the console room around them; and I could tell that she wanted to say yes. I mean who wouldn't want to see the universe. To explore all of time and space. It was a life of no work, not taxes, no family members bugging you. Just adventure and a whole lot of running around.

Really it was a hell a lot of running, I was going to have to start carrying around energy drinks at this rate.

"We're not exactly short of space." Donna added while gesturing at my parked time and space machine.

"And for a limited time only, two TARDIS for the price of one" I joked.

"What's the plural of TARDIS anyway?" Donna Noble asked "TARDI? TARDISS? TARDIES?

Martha Jones laughed a little before she finally respond to The Doctor's offer.

"I've missed all this, but I'm good here. Back at home, and I'm better for having been away. Besides," she said while wiggling her ring finger proudly. "someone here needs me, and I've got a great big world of my own now to look after. It needs people to protect it".

"Martha Jones. Defender of Earth" said the Doctor proudly.

With that the actually qualified doctor headed for the exit. It was then that said door slammed shut and the TARDIS began to rattle, rock and shake. And the familiar dematerialization process began; only a lot more violent than usual, with only me being able to stay standing. And that was only because I'd know that this was going to happen in advance.

"Doctor!" Marth Jones screamed out "Stop this thing right now and take me home!"

"It's not me. I'm not doing anything." The Doctor protested as he tried to do the very thing his friend had requested.

"What? What?" he shouted out as he read one of the screens.

"Never mind 'what'. Just stop it?" Donna Noble ordered.

"B-but we're in flight and it's not me!" The Doctor yelled.

"Where are we going?" Donna demanded to know.

"I dunno…It's out of control." The Doctor tried to explain.

"No…nonononono!" he then called out.

Everyone but me shouted as an explosion of sparks burst from the console.

"What's happening!?" Martha yelled.

"I don't know where we're going but my old hand's very excited about it."

The Doctor's gaze fell on the jar holding the limb that Captain Jack had been holding onto for a few years. I'd forgotten how important that hand was. So I kept an eye on it in case it started rolling about.

"That's your hand? I thought it was just some creepy alien-thing" Donna said.

"He got it cut off and grew a new one." Martha informed.

No doubt she was remembering how much learning that had freaked her out when they'd been at the End of the Universe.

However there was no time now to discuss that as the TARDIS landed with such force even I was knocked to the ground.

"Bloody Type 40s" I complained.


End file.
